Police in Houston said Monday a disgruntled lawyer that injured at least nine people outside of a Houston-area mall is dead.
The victims were injured when the shooter opened fire at the shopping centre early Monday morning, authorities told the Associated Press.
Six of the wounded were shot while the other three were injured by glass or debris.
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Authorities first received a report of the shootings at about 6:30 a.m., Police Chief Martha Montalvo said at a news conference, and the man began firing at officers when they arrived.
Montalvo also said the shooter was a lawyer who may have had issues with his law firm.
“What I will confirm is that the information we have at this time is that he is a lawyer, and there were issues concerning his law firm,” the police chief said. “The FBI is on scene and is assisting us in our investigation.”
Police also confirmed an officer shot and killed the suspect. No other suspects were believed to be involved.
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ABC 13 News reported police had deployed the bomb squad unit after a suspicious vehicle was found near the scene of the shooting.
A bomb-squad robot examined a Porsche that police said belonged to the gunman; Texas motor vehicle records in a commercially available database showed the car is licensed to Nathan DeSai at an address in the condo complex. The property manager of the condo complex also confirmed that police were going through DeSai’s residence.
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Mayor Sylvester Turner told KTRK-TV that DeSai was a lawyer who was “disgruntled” and was “either fired or had a bad relationship with this law firm.” But DeSai’s former law partner, Kenneth McDaniel, disputed that assertion, saying they jointly closed their 12-year-old law firm in February due to economic conditions related to Houston’s energy industry downturn.
McDaniel also said he’d had no contact with DeSai lately and that police called him Monday morning to check on his safety, though they didn’t explain why.
DeSai’s father, Prakash DeSai, told Houston television station KTRK that his son lived in the condo complex and drives a black Porsche. He also said his son, whom he saw Sunday, was upset because “his law practice is not going well” and stays upset “because of his personal problems.”
Speaking with the Houston Chronicle, Eduardo Andrade told the newspaper he was on the way to the gym when his vehicle was struck by at least two bullets.
“As I was driving by Law Street I suddenly heard a big explosion,” the 42-year-old explained to the newspaper. “I covered myself, accelerated and tried to get out of there. I did not know if someone was following me or trying to shoot me.”
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According to the Chronicle, one bullet came through the windshield and the other through the passenger-side window.
“It’s so random, think of it, if I was driving a little faster or a little slower, the bullet would have had a different trajectory,” Andrade said.
Authorities were in the process of searching the suspect’s vehicle that was located near the scene of the shooting and plan to search the suspect’s apartment.
Police said weapons were found during the vehicle search.
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The shooting comes just days after a 20-year-old man opened fire in a Washington State shopping mall, killing five people.
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Authorities said the gunman in the attack at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington opened fire in the department store’s cosmetics department Friday night, killing a man and four females ranging from a teenager to a senior citizen.
The suspect was later arrested.
On Sept. 17, a 20-year-old man stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall before being shot to death by an off-duty police officer. Authorities said they are investigating the attack by Dahir Ahmed Adan as a possible act of terrorism.
–with files from the Associated Press
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